Mother's Day
by DeadWizardGod
Summary: Three earth born Avengers spend Mother's Day with their mums and one doesn't. Part five of Small Heroes.
1. Sophie and Natasha

_May 12, 2013, New York City_

'Right, Liz, off you get.'

The car skidded to a stop, the people in the front and middle seats twisting to smile at the person in the back seat. They all looked sympathetic as Lizzie opened up the boot, stepping out and waving goodbye. She slung her bag over her shoulder, shutting the boot and walking away.

'Right then, Bridgeport?'

James nodded happily, watching as Natasha tapped several buttons on the cars dash. 'I can't believe you managed to get this thing. SHIELD must be stupid.'

'James.' Bruce warned, from the front seat. 'Don't be rude.'

'But they are.' James said, scowling. Sophie, squashed between James and Howie, nudged the younger boy without looking up.

'Why do we need to go to Bridgeport?' Bruce said, as they started moving. James glanced out the window, eyes widening as the scenery changed.

'No reason.' James shrugged, bowing his head and looking at the STARKpad on his lap. He was writing up an article on the recent mutant riots. 'Hey, How, you couldn't get me some quotes, could you?'

Howie looked up from his chess game with Sophie. They were both equally terrible so it resulted in some long games. 'Yeah that'll make me look good, won't it?'

Sophie snorted. 'Hey, Clarice, happy mothers day. Say what did you think of the people calling us devil spawn?'

She and Howie chuckled slightly, James rolling his eyes at them.

'Yeah, sorry for asking.'

The car came to a stop, Bruce and James unclipping their seatbelts. Bruce smiled at Natasha, the two staring at each other for a second. 'Right, see you around.'

She nodded back as the two Banner's climbed out of the car. Howie looked up from his chess game with a raised eyebrow.

'Hey James, let me see that article before you hand it in, okay?'

James pulled a face. 'Why? I won't say anything insulting.'

Sophie raised an eyebrow out of James sight but Howie just leant around her. 'There's a few words mutants find worse than they seem. Just let me have a look.'

James nodded, smiling slightly. 'Course. See you around.'

'See you.' Sophie and Howie said together. Despite the now empty seat next to her, Sophie didn't move over, choosing to say sat right next to Howie.

'Tallahassee, right How?'

Howie looked up, running his metallic hand over his face. He nodded, looking nervous. 'Yes, please.'

Natasha smiled at him in the rear view mirror. 'Not nervous, are you?'

'No, why would you say that.' Howie said quickly, picking at wiring on his hand. Looking around the car, he blinked several times. 'I still think this is an infringement on my grandfather's intellectual property.'

Sophie raised an eyebrow, closing down the chess game. They both had one king and one pawn left, the game would never finish. 'First off, that's a terrible attempt at changing the subject, Edwin. Secondly, your grandfather neither perfected nor patented his design so there's so technical infringement.'

Howie scowled, poking Sophie's side. She giggled as they came to a stop again. She raised an eyebrow at him as he unclipped his seatbelt, shuffling around slightly.

'Got your suit, yeah?' Natasha said, head tilted.

Howie nodded, holding up his suitcase suit. He held gifts for Clarice in the other hand and Sophie had to lean across him to open the door.

'Good luck Edwin.' She said as he struggled to get out.

'See you later, Anastasia.' He replied, shutting the door.

Natasha turned her head, smirking at Sophie as the girl moved to the front seat.

'What?' Sophie said, strapping herself in again.

'Nothing, nothing.' Natasha said, turning the car on again. 'Just checking, you do have a boyfriend don't you?'

'Oh, shut up.' Sophie said, scowling and pulling out her phone. She sent a few texts to her father and her CO's, to check in with anything she and Lizzie needed to do before they went back. 'Where are we going then?'

'Art gallery.' Natasha said, lips twitching again. 'Any preferences?'

Sophie shrugged. 'Not really. Wherever you think is best.'

Natasha nodded, switching some buttons to turn the car back to normal. They drove along, Sophie's lips pursing. Eventually, she looked up, staring sideways at her mother.

'Have you noticed anything weird about James?'

Natasha pulled a face, not looking away from the road. 'Well, not really, he is your boyfriend.'

Sophie's eyebrows furrowed. 'So?'

'So I wouldn't like him either way.' Natasha smiled. When Sophie didn't smile back, Natasha shrugged. 'So he's being a bit of a jerk, so what? Tony does that all the time and you still think he's funny.'

Sophie frowned. 'You know that's different. James is getting worse and sometimes it doesn't seem like he's joking.'

'But he is still good most of the time, isn't he?'

Sophie shrugged. 'Most yeah, but its getting less. It's like he's two different people. Besides the obvious I mean.'

Natasha sighed. 'Its probably just the way he was raised. He was alone with his dad for his entire childhood, he just doesn't know how to talk to people. Plus the fact his dad actually is two people might mean something.'

'I guess.' Sophie said, eyes scanning the road. 'Speaking of Bruce-'

'Don't.'

'But seriously-'

'I said don't.' Natasha frowned, lips thinning. 'I'm his handler, we work together, nothing more.'

Sophie chuckled. 'Seriously. You spent your last birthday with just him. No one else, not even me.'

Natasha pulled the car to a stop, turning off the engine. 'We were finishing off our mission in Brazil.'

Sophie smirked slightly, getting out of the car. 'You reacted quite strongly to someone who was just finishing a mission.'

Natasha walked around the car, smacking the back of Sophie's head lightly. 'Let's go.'

Sophie laughed, linking arms with her mother and walking into the gallery. Natasha flashed some fake credentials at the man at the gate, getting them in without paying a cent. Sophie grabbed a couple maps from the side, holding one out to her mother.

'Where do you want to go then?' She said, smiling upwards.

'How about...' Natasha scanned the map, smirking. 'Modern art.'

Sophie grinned, knowing how much her mother despised modern art, a view she shared. It wasn't so much that they considered it bad but more that they couldn't see the point in it. Natasha especially had never understood art, it being something that was useless for an emotionless assassin. She had grown better at appreciating it after Clint had given their daughter some crayons as a child but her disdain for the subject was something Sophie had picked up over the years. Clint had argued with Natasha for months when he found paintbrushes and coloring pencils snapped and thrown in the bin, Sophie never drawing again. Modern art was still something neither could understand, due to their respective upbringings.

Still, it was fun to mock.

'Let's go.'

Arms still locked, they walked off in unison, walking against the crowd so everyone had to move out of the way. Some people opened their mouths to say something but a glare from both girls stopped them. Even with Sophie's hair dyed, everyone knew who both of them were. Several people even stopped to salute them or applaud them, making Sophie grin and Natasha's eyes brighten.

Finally they made it to the exhibition, sitting down opposite a completely blank canvas.

'The Truth about Life.' Natasha read from the plaque. She turned to Sophie, smirking and speaking in Russian to her daughter. ' _If he means it sucks, he's right._ '

Sophie laughed, nodding her , replying in the same language. ' _Maybe he meant the truth about his life, blank and boring_.'

Natasha lips twitched and she nudged Sophie to look at the people from the next bench over. She cupped her hand around her ear and Sophie nodded, recognising the sign language. They were both quiet, listening.

'Its so profound.' One of the men was saying. 'The artist clearly understands the human need for colour and excitement...'

'...but has come to the conclusion that there is no true colour in our existence.' His female companion nodded.

The other man sighed. 'Makes you feel so small, doesn't it.'

Natasha and Sophie looked at each other, lips shaking. Without saying anything, they stood up and moved to the next room, trying not to laugh. They both managed not to, though Sophie was full on grinning when they were out of sight.

'So profound.' She drawled, smile widening. 'I can't believe them.'

'Shh.' Natasha smirked. ' _Not in English_.'

They sat down on a bench again, Sophie looking around. Eyes narrowing slightly, she pulled out her phone, typing furiously. Natasha sat next to her, giving commentary on the artwork around them. After the fifth time of Sophie not laughing at a joke, Natasha allowed herself to frown.

' _Something wrong, Soph_?' She said, in mock confusion.

'Just informing the gallery they're about to be robbed.' She said, nodding to the guy behind them. ' _He's trying to hack into the secure servers_.'

' _Why hasn't he yet?_ ' Natasha said, in no way confused with the revelation of the man's intent. She had clocked him the moment they walked into the room but had let her daughter take the lead. She was caring like that.

' _Because I'm stopping him._ ' Sophie smirked. Pressing a final button on her phone, she smiled and stood up. ' _Let's go. We don't want to be here when the guards run in._ '

'Why not?' Natasha said, knowing the answer but wanting to hear Sophie say it.

'Don't want all the hero worship.' Sophie shrugged. 'Then people know our faces more.'

'Good girl.' Natasha wrapped an arm around Sophie's shoulders, leading her away from the exhibition, even as they heard other people rushing in. 'Now where do you want to go? Stay here or somewhere else?'

'Somewhere else.' Sophie said, easily. 'People are staring.'

Natasha nodded, glaring around as she steered Sophie outside. She was so used to keeping her a secret, to keeping her safe, it was difficult when people paid close attention to her.

'How's the training going?'

Sophie raised an eyebrow. It was rare for Natasha to start small talk. 'It's good, yeah. I think I got the bazooka down the other day.'

'Bazooka?' Natasha said, sounding actually surprised. Sophie had gotten used to hearing the difference between her mother's fake and genuine emotions. 'They let you use a bazooka?'

Sophie laughed at the worry on Natasha's face. 'Come on, Mama, don't tell me you've never used a bazooka?'

Natasha spluttered as she lead her daughter to a nearby café. It was quite posh, bigger than some of the neighbouring restaurants and seemed to pride itself on its 'authentic French cuisine'.

'Of course I have. I was training to be an assassin. Need to know everything.'

'And how old were you then?' Sophie said, sitting down at a table on the third floor. The floors below were protruding so each floor could lean over a balcony and watch the floor below.

Natasha glared. 'I was eight, shut up.'

Sophie giggled, leaning back in her seat. She fiddled with her phone as the waiter came over, Natasha looking up and ordering, in perfect French to the delight of the waiter.

'Ooh, ma mere, parlez-vous francais?' Sophie giggled. 'How posh?'

Natasha eyebrows furrowed. 'Sophie, you speak French, you just answered in French when he asked you a question. Why is that funny?'

Sophie shrugged, giggling again. Natasha had to smile, her daughter happy always cheered her up. Natasha watched as Sophie's phone flashed and she picked it up, eyes widening. She began to type again, focused.

'Who are you texting?' Natasha said, startling Sophie. The girl whipped her head up, eyes wide and mouth pursed. 'James?'

'It's no one.' Sophie blushed.

'Aw, you're allowed to text your boyfriend, Soph.' Natasha teased as their food was brought over. 'There's not to be embarrassed about.'

'Mama...' Sophie moaned, blushing more as Natasha smirked. Sophie looked sideways, down at the floors below. Her face hardened. 'Mama.'

Natasha turned, following Sophie's gaze. Her eyes narrowed at the people who had just walked in, holding huge bags like lifelines and clearly, to the assassin at least, hiding guns beneath their jackets. They all flinched when sirens were heard in the distance and one, apparently the leader, pulled his gun out, shooting it into the air.

'This is a hostage situation!' He shouted. 'Nobody move!'

Natasha rolled her eyes, looking incredulously ar her daughter. 'Seriously. It's our day off.'

Sophie shrugged, smirking slightly. The men started spreading out, running up the floors. 'Well, we can deal with stares. What have you got on you?'

'A gun, my batons and a couple Widow's Bites. You?'

'Two guns and several knives. What if they grab someone?' Sophie frowned, glaring at the men surround them.

She opened her bag in her lap, inconspicuously moving her weapons to their holsters and wishing she had left them there to start with. The gun holsters on her hips and the knife straps running down her thighs could be passed off accessories for her jeans when empty, less so when she was carrying actual weapons.

'I'll deal with them. I'm guessing you haven't been trained in that yet.' Natasha said, waiting for Sophie's nod. 'You stay up here and cover me.'

Sophie nodded again. She let her bag fall to the ground and placed her hand over two knives, glancing up at the people on their floor. They were right at the top, so she would be able to look down at all the other floors once she had gotten rid of people on this floor.

'Need something, girly?' One of the men said, smirking and waving his gun in her direction.

'I'm actually insulted you don't know who I am.' Sophie frowned, gripping her knives and getting ready to stand. 'You need to watch the news more.'

'What's that suppose to mean?' A woman said, walking up, eyes wide. 'Can we get more money for you?'

Natasha started counting down and Sophie smirked. 'In your dreams.'

Natasha hit zero and they both moved at once, Sophie throwing both knives and Natasha vaulting over the balcony. Sophie ducked down before the others on her floor could shoot at her, jumping back up and throwing two more knives. Successfully hitting all five in either their legs or upper arms, she turned, pulling out a gun and looking down the balcony. Someone shot at her and she barely dodged in time, her shoulder getting nicked. Ignoring the bleeding and the pain, she raised her gun with the other hand, shooting down and hitting the people aiming at her. She was using specially made SHIELD practice bullets, which would do some serious damage but were far less likely to kill the victim. It wasn't impossible, just unlikely and she doubted her mother was taking that precaution. Though her mother did have have stunners in her arsenal.

Within a few minutes, every attacker she could see was down and her mother was on the bottom floor, evidently having taking care of everything else.

'Soph!' Natasha shouted from the bottom floor. 'The police are here, let's go.'

Sophie nodded, grabbing her bag and skipping past the people moaning with knives in their shoulders. She paused, looking back at them. 'I'll want those back, by the way.'

She smiled at her mother as she reached the ground floor. Natasha put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards the door. Natasha offered some money to the owner but he shook his head. Sophie realised, with a start, that his clothes were crumpled and he was shaking, probably having been grabbed by one of the gunmen.

'Thank you.'

Natasha shrugged, though Sophie smiled under her arm. The elder nodded her head. 'Just doing our job, wish they hadn't tried it.'

'No one was seriously hurt, that's the main thing.' A member of the police said, heading down from the top floor. Sophie blushed but he waved her off. 'It would have been a lot worse without you Miss Barton.'

'Barton-Romanoff.' Sophie smiled. 'I got it legally changed.'

'I'll inform the press.' The policeman smirked, winking.

Without another word, the two Romanoffs walked out of the café, heading back towards their car. Once they reached it, Natasha stopped, pulling Sophie into a hug. The young girl gripped her mother tight, sighing.

'Thank you, Sophie.' Natasha said, kissing her forehead. 'For today, and everything else.'

Sophie smiled into her mother's jacket. She knew Natasha wouldn't be happy about her taking her name, as it wasn't even her real name, but Sophie wanted to prove she was her mother's daughter, and she loved her mother equal to her father.

'Love you mama.' Sophie said.

'Love you too.' Natasha said, pulling away. 'Now lets go home and terrify your dad with stories of what we did today.'

Sophie laughed, moving around to the other side. She stepped into the car, grinning from ear to ear.


	2. James and Betty

James slung his bag over his shoulder, smiling up at his dad as he closed the straps. Bruce smiled back, his eyebrows slightly raised. He raised a hand as the car disappeared, literally fading from their sight.

'You going to tell me why we're here?' Bruce said, pulling his backpack further up his shoulders and picking up one of the big bags at his feet. James grabbed the other and smiled, walking alongside his father.

'I know someone from here.' James shrugged. They headed into the park, James making sure his satchel with his STARKpad and phone was still at his hip. 'No biggie.'

'How do you know someone in America?' Bruce pulled a face. 'And stop watching for pickpockets, no ones going to steal from you.'

'They might.' James said, as Bruce stopped and set his bag down. 'I used to do it, still do sometimes. This place would make it so easy to steal from people.'

Bruce frowned. 'You still steal stuff? You don't need to.'

James shrugged. 'Its a habit. See a nice apple, pick it up. I'm doing it less though, barely anything these days.'

Bruce frowned even more and James looked down, ashamed. Without a word, he started getting the blanket and the food, laying it out quickly. Before Bruce good start helping, he pulled out his STARKpad, handing it over to Bruce.

'I believe its your turn to read.'

Bruce smiled, taking the pad and turning to the crossword app. While Bruce was in Brazil, the two had only been able to talk over the phone so James had suggested doing a crossword together, once a week. They took turns in reading the clues out, each person getting points for getting the answer first, with points based on the length of the word and how many letters were already in the word. At the end of the month, all the points were tallied up and the loser had to buy the winner a present. Buy, actually buy, Bruce insisted, which always made James roll his eyes.

This had managed to get Howie's notice, and Clint's. Within a few weeks, both were doing it, with Tony and Sophie respectively. Soon, Steve and Lizzie were doing it together and, when he unofficially joined the team, Peter had been roped in to play with Natasha. Everyone played different, James knew. Sophie, for example, would fill in all the answers she knew as soon as she looked at the puzzle, while Steve would read every clue out first before allowing guessing. Plus, every month, every team met up and played against each other, JARVIS getting up a huge crossword for them to do. The winners didn't have to pay for take out that night, and no one was allowed to miss the meet up. It was the rules.

'Alright then?' Bruce said, laying down on his stomach as James finished arranging the food. Bruce raised an eyebrow at the amount, more than enough for both of them.

James waved him off, sitting down himself and opening up the sausage rolls. He checked his phone and scowled when he realised he had no response from the person he was contacting. 'Shoot.'

Bruce grinned. 'Okay. One down. Poet who wrote Canterbury Tales, seven letters.'

He glanced up at James, who shook his head, glancing at his phone again.

'It's Chaucer.' Bruce smiled. 'Not to worry. Instrument for finding instructions, seven letters, starts with a C.'

'Compass.' James said, looking around. Maybe she had decided to come to the park without contacting him. He was supposed to meet her when she texted, but she could already be there and not know where they were.

'Right, five letters, starts with an M. Tooth adapted for grinding food.'

James shook his head again so Bruce filled in the answer, shaking his head slightly.

'Mixture of metals, A blank L, two blanks.'

Bruce waited, staring at James, who was just staring at his phone. Eventually, James blinked, shaking his head. 'Sorry, alloy. That counts as mine.'

'Yeah, because I let you have it.' Bruce said with an eye roll. 'Do you want to go get them?'

James looked up, eyes wide. 'What, no? I'll pay attention, sorry.'

Bruce chuckled, shaking his head again. 'Just go. I'm happy to wait. They don't live too far away, do they?'

'Er... I don't think so.' James shrugged, standing up. 'I might get lost though.'

'Well, take your phone in case you do.' Bruce said, turning back to the STARKpad. 'I'll finish this by myself.'

James rolled his eyes, grabbing a banana from the food. 'Just don't eat all the food, okay?'

Bruce smiled. 'I won't, I promise.'

James grinned back, picking up his phone and heading out of the park. He got up his phone's GPS, scowling at the distance to his mother's house. It would take him a good twenty minutes to get there, if he ran. Sighing he started off, weaving through the streets. He got stopped a couple times to speak to people who recognised him. Mostly fans of the Avengers, but one or two were just people who knew Betty and had seen him around a couple times.

Scanning over the map on his phone, he dodged into an alley, coming out in a different part of town. He waited for his phone to reset, nodding at two girls who tried to discretely take his picture. They giggled and he walked off again, smiling to himself. He did enjoy the fame his superhero status gave him, just a bit. It could be annoying but it could also be quite fun. James laughed to himself, thinking the day was going quite well.

Then the world shifted.

James stumbled, missing a step, as his right leg was suddenly in front of his leg without him putting it there. He froze, looking around, seeing a completely different surrounding. The alleyway was gone, as were the shops and apartments. Instead, James was in some kind of parking lot, clutching a phone not his own in his hand.

'Not again.'

He gasped, looking down at the phone and turning it on cautiously. It had a picture of the two girls on the lock screen and, with a start, James realised they were lying on the ground beside him. Dropping their phone and searching his pockets for his own, he was immensely relieved when he found it but the search had revealed a patch of blood on the back of his hand. Dropping beside the girls, he noticed one of them was bleeding from her forehead but both were breathing normally. Standing again, he ignored the notifications on his phone, heading straight to GPS and finding out where he was. He was still in Bridgeport, luckily and he quickly rang the ambulance.

'Hello, yes? I don't know what happened. There's two girls, one's bleeding, they're both unconscious. No, I didn't see anything. No, I'm not hurt. Uh, the parking lot on 5th, second to top floor, I think. Bridgeport, yes. Thank you.'

James rattled of the answers, walking away from the girls. He didn't want to be there when they woke up, although they would probably incriminate him anyway. He rushed down the stairs, pushing his way into the first bathroom he saw and washing the blood off. He was almost thankful to see a huge gash along the back of the hand which meant some, if not all of the blood, had been his.

He finally built up the courage to check his phone, wincing at the number of messages and missed calls he had. Sophie and Howie had both texted him and both his parents had rung several times. Even Natasha had rung him, probably as Bruce's request. Steeling himself, James rung his father back, heading out of the parking lot. He tried to keep his voice neutral, despite the way he was shaking.

'Hey Papa.'

'James!' Bruce nearly shouted, clearly frantic. 'Where have you been, I've been so worried!'

'Yeah, sorry, I got a bit lost...' James trailed off.

'For an hour?' Bruce said, and James winced again. 'Why couldn't you ring me?'

James shrugged, even though his father couldn't see and struggled to stay calm. He stumbled out of the parking lot, happy when he realised he was only a few minutes from his mother's house.

'Sorry, just lost track of time.' James was amazed at how little his voice shook, at how little emotion he could put into his actions. The only time his emotions didn't affect him was when Monstrosity was in control. 'I won't be long, I've found their house.'

'Okay, hurry back.'

'Of course, see you in a bit.'

James hung up, knocking on Betty's door. Her husband opened the door, smiling when he saw his step-son.

'Hey Jamie, we wondered where you got to. I did try to ring.'

James shrugged. 'Sorry, my phone was being weird. I got lost.'

Leonard raised an eyebrow. 'I thought you knew Bridgeport quite well.'

'Yeah, so did I.' James laughed, uncomfortable with how well he was faking his emotions, or how well they were being faked for him.

'Jamie!'

'Tori!' He shouted as a little ball of brown hair launched herself at him. He lifted his half sister up, holding her close. 'Miss me?'

The five year old nodded. 'Loads and loads. We've had a great day, Jamie. Mum got us a cake and we played games. Then Leo had to ruin it by putting mud in my hair.'

'Did he now?' James said, raising an eyebrow at his seven year old brother as he tried to walk by. Leo shrugged and James let Tori down.

'Are you staying, Jamie?' Tori said, bouncing.

'I can't, Tor, I've got to get back to my Papa. He'll worry about me if I'm late. Do you know where mum is, I'm afraid I'll have to steal her.'

Tori looked sad for a second, before nodding and running off to find Betty. James shook his head, smiling.

'Too much energy.' He smiled at his stepfather.

'I don't know where she gets it.' Leonard laughed. He looked down, spotting the long cut along the back of James' hand. 'Where'd you get that?'

James glanced down, shrugging despite himself. 'Dunno. Went through an alley on my way here, must have got it then.'

Leonard shrugged. 'Fair enough. Wait here, I'll get Betty.'

James smiled, glaring at the nearest mirror as soon as Leonard was gone.

'Get out of my head.' He muttered, hoping he was being listened to.

A growl inside his head answered him but it felt far away, like Monstrosity was more buried than usual. Or hiding. There was confusion mixed in, like the other in his head didn't understand why he was angry.

'James!'

He turned in time to give Betty a proper hug, smiling without being forced to. Betty gave him another squeeze before letting him go, smiling widely. James leant sideway to wave to little two year old Bruce in Leonard's arms. He always wondered how that felt for Leonard, naming his son after his wife's ex-husband but, he guessed, at the time Betty thought Bruce was dead.

'Ready to go?' Betty smiled. James grinned back, nodding.

'Papa's in the park.' James grinned. 'You'll have to show me the way.'

Betty nodded, grinning. She turned, giving each member of her family a kiss and grabbing her back, before heading out the door with her oldest son. 'Does he know I'm coming?'

James shook his head. 'He doesn't know you're alive. Every time I tried to talk to him, he changed the subject.'

'Getting desperate?'

James laughed, stopping when he saw the serious expression on his mother's face. He followed her gaze, seeing the park and, through the trees, Bruce sat, still doing the crossword. It was probably a different one now.

James stopped himself from wincing at the short time it had taken the to get from Betty's house to the park. Taking his mum's hand and giving it a squeeze, he walked towards Bruce, letting Betty wait behind a tree as Bruce looked up.

Bruce jumped up, pulling James into a hug. 'Where have you been?! I was so worried!'

James smiled, hugging his dad back but shaking his head. 'Come on Papa, you know I'm fine. Bridgeport isn't that big, you'd hear Monstro if anything went wrong.'

Bruce nodded, sitting down again. It took him a second but he finally glanced up again. 'Where's your friend?'

James grinned. 'Well, Papa, that's the thing. I'd like to introduce you to Mrs Elizabeth Samson, nee Ross, formerly Banner.'

Betty stepped around the tree, smiling widely. Bruce stared in shock before scrambling to his feet, pulling her into a hug. Betty was crying and so was Bruce and it wasn't until he went to scratch his face that James realised he was to.

Previous problems forgotten, neither on purpose or permanently, James Banner sat down for a picnic with his parents. His first ever family meal.


	3. Howie and Clarice

Howie fidgeted nervously as he waited for Clarice to open the door. He knew from Kurt and Kitty- who had insisted on staying in touch- that Tallahassee was quite an anti-mutant city and there had been multiple attempts to get Clarice to move house. All had been stopped by Xavier's political sway and a huge bribe from an anonymous source that Howie suspected was his father. However, that didn't stop his purple patterned skin and metallic limbs making him stand out like a sore thumb. Before, he wouldn't have cared but he had been harassed enough times while out to know he didn't need the trouble.

The door, Clarice's eyes widening. 'Howie? Is something wrong?'

Howie smiled, holding out the flowers and box of chocolate he had brought with him. 'Happy mother's day.'

Clarice smiled, taking them from him. 'Thank you so much. Come in, come in.'

He shuffled in after her, smiling to himself. The smile dropped slightly when he spotted the bag full of presents in the corner, some of them clearly addressed to the kids from Xavier's school.

'You have plans.' He realised, looking up sharply. 'I'll just go. I should have called first, I'm sorry, I-'

'Howie.' Clarice said, putting her hands either side of his face. 'I only have plans because of my lack of plans.'

Howie froze, firstly because his mother had never really held him before, and secondly because what she said made no sense. 'Umm...could you explain?'

Clarice smiled, kissing his forehead. Howie was still, eyes flicking back and forth. 'Who do people spend mother's day with?'

'Well, their mothers.' Howie shrugged slightly. 'Or other family.'

'And what do a lot of mutants not have?'

Howie paused for a second, slowly speaking. 'Family?'

'Well, family that loves them.' Clarice sighed, putting the flowers in a vase. 'The number is lessening but its still quite big. On every holiday where people, no matter their age, might feel alone, the Professor puts on a huge meal at the school. I would have told you but I don't normally have someone to tell.'

Howie frowned again. 'So you used to feel alone.'

Clarice moved into the kitchen, putting the chocolates in the fridge. She came back in, leaning against the back of the sofa. 'Yes, but now I have you. My son who turns up uninvited to my house to give me presents. I think I'm doing alright.'

Howie smiled, finally, and nodded, turning towards the door. 'Well, I'll be going. Don't want to keep you.'

'Howie.' Clarice smiled, shaking her head in amusement. 'Did you want to go to Xavier's with me?'

Howie spluttered a bit, shocked. Finally, he managed to calm down and look his mother in the eyes. 'Yeah, I'd like that.'

'Okay.' Clarice nodded, looking at her stuff. 'Just let me grab my coat.'

Howie nodded again, eyes wide. He was going to Xavier's. He sent a quick text to Sophie, telling her where he was going. He would have texted James and Lizzie but he felt their days would be too serious for him to interrupt. He would ring Lizzie later, make sure she was okay.

'Just so you know.' He said loudly, as Clarice shuffled around in the next room. Howie sat down, happy to wait. 'SI doesn't have the best reputation for mutant relations.'

Clarice raised an eyebrow as she walked back in. 'I thought your dad would have fixed that. Considering...'

'Considering I'm a mutant?' Howie said, nodding his head to the side. 'We don't actually discriminate. We just have a bad rep from when my grandfather was in charge that we've never recovered from. You know Tony has nothing against mutants.'

Clarice laughed slightly at that. 'No, that he does not. Come on lets go.'

Howie grinned, standing up. He stood next to Clarice, bouncing on the balls of his feet nervously. 'You sure this is okay?'

'Of course.' Clarice said, picking up the presents. 'We might have to make two trips though.'

Howie shrugged, though there was a distinctly nervous twinge to his voice. 'Fine by me.'

Clarice nodded, holding Howie's arm gently. A portal appeared in front of them and Howie smiled at the familiar feeling of warmth coming from it. He was getting better with his own abilities, could hold two fist shaped portals up for hours. He had tested them with every substance he could find and everything passed through without damage. He had even managed to scare Steve once by putting a portal in the fridge and sticking his head through the other one. Lizzie had been a bit mad at him but Sophie found it funny.

'Will anyone I know be there?' Howie said as they stepped through the second portal. They were outside Xavier's mansion. Howie supposed it was impolite to just let yourself in, even if you were invited. 'Kurt, Kitty or the others?'

Clarice frowned as they were buzzed into the grounds. 'I don't think so, sorry. Kurt, Kitty and Piotr are on good terms with their mothers and they have kids themselves to spend the day with. I'll tell them you're here though, they might pop over if they're close enough.'

Howie wanted to protest, tell her not to bother them but as he opened his mouth, they rounded the corner. The whole garden, and it was a large garden, was full of people who some how all managed to look up when they were in sight. Howie stopped in his tracks, suddenly wanting to cover up the pressed trousers and dress shirt he was wearing. Some of the mutants were wearing clothes several sizes too big, clearly hand me downs or charity. Several mutants glared at him and he gulped, gripping his suitcase close to his chest. He could activate it in a second if need be.

'Clarice!'

She looked sideways, smiling and walking towards the voice. Most of the people in the garden went back to what they were doing but a couple still watched him, though it seemed they were curious more than anything else.

' _Sir, is everything okay_?'

He jumped about a foot in the air, getting some rather strange looks. He had forgotten he had the earpiece in and, subsequently, had both AI's in his ear. It was FRIDAY who had spoken and that only made him think of his glasses, sitting on his desk in the Tower, completely functional but being improved. He could use them right now, lesser model or not.

'I'm fine, Fri.' He muttered, sighing. 'Just a bit nervous.'

' _Of course, sir. Your heart rate was elevated_.' The AI's clipped voice came through. ' _You have a message from Miss Barton_.'

'Barton-Romanoff.' Howie noted absentmindedly. He pulled out his phone, smiling at Sophie's description of her time on the art museum. He texted back about some of the X-Men that were there. He was really excited to see them, but of course he couldn't let them know that. He asked after James but was informed that he was being unresponsive, so sent his own message to the younger boy.

'Howie, come meet Bobby.' Clarice said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the man who had called out to her.

The man was about the same age as Kitty and Kurt, only a few years younger than Clarice. Howie held his hand out to shake but Bobby pushed it out of the way, engulfing Howie in a hug. The boy yelped and Bobby laughed, holding at arm's length.

'Wow, you grew didn't you, Charlie?'

Howie glanced at his mother, who was blushing. 'My name's Howard. Or Howie.'

Bobby shook his head, still smiling. 'Sorry, forgot you're not the baby I almost gave pneumonia. Not anymore at least.'

Howie's eyes widened slightly. 'Oh, um, that's cool. I guess.'

Bobby laughed, again. He seemed a very happy person. 'Wait here. I know the Professor will want to meet you. In fact, everyone will want to meet you. I'll make sure they don't all rush over.'

With that, Bobby walked off, patting Howie on the back as he went. Howie stared at his mother, wide eyed and slightly terrified.

'What was that all about?'

Clarice smiled. 'They missed you, I guess.'

'Miss me?' Howie frowned. 'I've never met them before.'

'Actually you did.' Clarice smiled. 'When you were a baby, and I was thinking of keeping you. They were all besotted with you.'

'You were think of keeping me?' Howie said. 'I didn't know that. Why didn't you?'

Clarice's face screwed up. Before she could answer, someone said her name beside them and both mother and son looked up, Clarice smiling widely and the three people who walked up, or wheeled up, to them.

'Howie.' She smiled, gesturing to them. 'Allow me to introduce Charles Xavier, Ororo Munroe and Logan.'

'Nice to meet you.' Howie said, holding his hand out. Charles and Ororo took the metal limb happily but Logan just glared at him.

'You're the Stark boy, right?' He glared. 'The one whose company refuses to hire mutants.'

Howie's face dropped and he noticed several other people looking up interested. Bobby walked over, Kurt next to him. Howie wanted to walk over to Kurt, but he couldn't just let Logan get away with what he said.

'20 years ago, yes.' Howie admitted. 'But my dad has gone to great lengths to rid the company of discrimination.'

Logan snorted. 'That why you only hired ten mutants last year. We all saw the papers.'

Howie sighed, rolling his eyes. 'We actually hired forty one mutants last year, out of ninety seven in total. Those ten just happened to be the only ones open with their abilities. We pride ourselves on confidentiality and protecting our employees.

'Bet you memorized that.'

'Logan!'

Logan snorted, opening his mouth to say something else but Charles raised a hand, shaking his head.

'Logan, that's enough. Howard is here as our guest, and he is Clarice's son.' He paused, as if he wanted to say something else but he didn't, merely smiling at Howie. 'Now is not the time for such serious discussions.'

Logan had an eyebrow raised during this. 'Clarice's boy? Little Charlie?'

'Howie.' He insisted. 'Sorry but I don't remember being called Charlie. I don't remember you people.'

The whispering started up again and Kurt took it as his cue to walk forwards. He handed little Talia over instantly and she clung to Howie's chest as he smiled down at her. Kurt had brought Talia, and her little brother to the Tower several times and Howie was quite close to the little blue girl.

'I don't think people realised who you are, Howie.' Kurt said with a smile as Howie started pulling faces at Talia. She laughed and he stopped briefly to shrug at Kurt

'I didn't know who I was, apparently.' Howie sighed. The looks people were giving him had changed from apprehension to curiosity. He expected he'd have to go through a lot of introductions before he left and everyone would likely get his name wrong at least once. He looked up at Kurt, barely flinching as Talia started pulling on his hair. 'I thought you were visiting family.'

Kurt shrugged. 'We were at Amanda's parent's. When Bobby told me baby Charlie was back, I figured you'd need help.'

Howie ground his teeth together slightly, trying to stop Talia from pulling out his earpiece. Ororo, seeing his discomfort, smiled slightly.

'Give her to me.' She said, lifting Talia easily from his arms. Logan looked at them fondly, an expression that didn't really suit his face. 'Now, Clarice, why don't you show Howie around, show him the footage.'

'Are you sure?' Clarice said, looking around.

'We can wait.'

Howie, meanwhile, was checking his phone, frowning when he realised James still hadn't replied. He let it go, knowing James could forget things easily. Clarice put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her.

'Lets go inside.' She smiled. He nodded, allowing her to gently push him into the mansion. He glanced back at the others, who were shuffling together. Xavier glanced over his shoulder, smiling at Howie. The boy waved his hand slightly, keeping it by his side. Smiling again at Xavier, Howie followed his mother inside.

Clarice lead him through the mansion, down several flights of stairs and into a surveillance room. Howie looked around as Clarice looked through the footage from years ago.

'So.' Howie smiled. 'Charlie?'

'Charles.' Clarice clarified. 'After your primary godfather. Charles Scott Ferguson.'

'Why didn't you keep me?' Howie said, the words coming out far more casual than they had any right to be. Clarice sighed, even as she found the right video. She paused, staring at the screen.

'It's complicated.' She said finally. She sat down, not looking up. 'I was going to. I had you with me for a month, showing you off to everyone in the mansion. I don't think you were ever put down, not once in a whole month. Everyone loved you. You were the first baby born in the mansion, at least the first one that stayed there. The idea of a child, raised by the X-Men, so safe and loved, I think it angered someone.'

'What do you mean?' Howie said, sitting down on the chair next to her. He stared at her, even as she continued watching the screen. The video hadn't started to play yet.

'A few days before I left you at Tony's, the mansion was attacked. The people attacking, anti-mutant terrorist groups, seemed to be aiming at you, and this guest we had. She tried to take the blame, but I knew you would be in danger. So I gave you to Tony, despite the protests from, well, everyone.'

'Who was she? The guest?'

Clarice shook her head. 'I don't remember. She disappeared a few days later and Charles refused to tell us who she was.'

She looked up, finally, looking him straight in the eye. 'Don't ever think I didn't want you. I loved you more than anything in the whole world, still do. I just wanted you to be safe.'

Howie nodded, moving forward to hug his mum. They both had tears in their eyes, and Howie buried his face in her shoulder. 'It's alright, mum, I understand. I love you too.'

Clarice smiled, kissing his hair and then pulling back. 'Thank you.'

He smiled, sadly, looking up at the screen. On it, he saw a younger Clarice holding a tiny bundle. 'Is that me?'

Clarice smiled. Without saying a word, she started the video and Howie watched as she walked out of the room and into the dining room. The room perked up as she walked in, everyone smiling at her and the baby.

'This was the first time I'd taken you out of the med bay.' Clarice muttered.

Howie just stared as he was passed from person to person while Clarice went to get her breakfast. Each person seemed eager to hold him and reluctant to pass him on. The little baby him seemed happy, content, and didn't stir once.

Clarice smiled as the video came to an end. 'We have a couple more if you want to watch them.'

Howie shook his head, standing up. 'Actually, could you introduce me to your family?'

Clarice smiled, nodding once. 'Of course. They're your family as well.'

They stood, walking back outside with huge smiles on their faces.


	4. Elizabeth

Lizzie didn't even wait for the car to start moving before she headed off. She knew her friends would be sympathetic, would be kind, but she couldn't speak to them. Not today. Not when they were all going to spend the day with their mothers and she had lost hers. James and Howie had even gotten back their estranged mums, Howie even ending up with two, but she was just left with a body in the ground.

She went to the florists first, money gripped tight in her hand. Steve had given her the money after she had refused his offer to go with her. Lizzie had felt bad about that, especially as Steve's face adopted its wounded puppy expression. But this day had always been for her to spend with her mother and her mother's family, not with anyone on the Rogers-Carter side of her family.

Sharon had sent her a small message in the morning and Tony had been waiting with a hug when she woke up. Steve had made her favourite food for breakfast, and Howie and Sophie sat either side of her while she ate, shoulders pressed against hers. She wished she had something to say to them, any of them, as her boyfriend and best friend talked about tv shows over her head and her grandfather and godfather chatted about work. She could join in either conversation, any time she wanted, she just never felt the desire to.

Lizzie held the money out to the florist which the man accepted with a small smile. Lizzie tried to smile back but it became more of a grimace. She took the flowers, walking into the cemetery.

There were less people in the cemetery than normal. Lizzie's heart ached a bit when she realised she had visited the cemetery enough to know when it was having a slow day. People were milling about, placing flowers on graves and then walking off. Most people who had lost their mothers had families of their own to spend the day with, or grandmothers to see. They wanted to honour the dead, then leave to visit the living. When Lizzie sat down opposite her mother's grave, she was one only of very few to stay.

'Hey mummy.' She said, placing the flowers down. 'I got these for you. I hope you like them.'

She took a deep breath, looking down at her knees. If she didn't look at the grave, she could pretend her mother was still alive to talk to. She started pulling up the grass, not really thinking as she did it.

'It's mine and Howie's anniversary in two months.' She said, lips twitching. 'Can you believe it? I've managed to put up with a boy for a whole year. Or, he puts up with me at least. I dunno, sometimes I feels like I'm just going through the motions. I'm sure I like him, like like him that is, but, I just don't know. You know?'

She looked up at the grave, grimacing slightly when she realised she had been expecting a response. Of course there wouldn't be a response. Stupid.

'People think I'm a hero.' She muttered. She paused, a long pause where she tried to figure what she wanted to say. There were so many times she had wanted to just talk to someone about everything that had happened. She didn't feel like she could talk to everyone in the house, not about everything, anyway. She'd tell Steve, Tony or the others anything, as long as it didn't make them worry about her. She didn't want them worrying.

'I don't think I'm a hero.' Lizzie said, finally. Her eyes were filling with tears now and she was struggling to hold it together. 'If I was a hero, I would have followed you when you went out. Or I would have stayed with Nana Peg or daddy...'

Her breath caught in her throat and she finally started sobbing. Tears fell freely and she collapsed in on herself, hands covering her face as she tried to get rid of the tears.

'Are you okay?'

Lizzie looked up, staring at the long haired man with red rimmed eyes. 'Franklin?'

His eyes widened and he knelt down, holding his arms out. 'Little Elizabeth? Its been so long.'

She let herself collapse into Foggy's arms, sobbing on his shoulder. He rubbed her back, whispering kind words that she couldn't concentrate on. He said something to someone behind him and Lizzie felt herself being handed over to someone else, strong arms holding her tightly as she cried. The man waited until her sobs slowed to a halt before speaking.

'You know, I'm a bit insulted.'

Lizzie had to smile at that, pulling back from her cousin. 'And why is that?'

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Foggy walking away. Her cousin just scowled slightly, though the corner of his eyes crinkled behind his shades. 'You turn up in New York and you see your granddad before me? Poor show Liz.'

Lizzie laughed. She couldn't help it, Matt had always made her smile. She looked up, trying to find Foggy. Matt shook his head.

'I told him we'd be fine.' Matt smiled. 'Foggy knows you can look after little blind me all by yourself.'

Lizzie scoffed. 'Still going on about that then?'

Matt raised an eyebrow, turning sideways. Lizzie turned and the two sat shoulder to shoulder, staring at the grave of their mutual relation. 'My life altering disability? Yes, its quite important.'

Lizzie rolled her eyes. 'Yes, but are you still pretending to be a regular blind person, aren't you?'

'What do you mean?' Matt said. He was staring at the grave but, obviously, he couldn't really see it. Lizzie was just staring at the sky, leaning against him.

'What did I have for dinner yesterday?'

Matt rolled his eyes. 'Lasagne. Shut up.'

Lizzie laughed. That had always been her favourite trick of Matt's growing up, when he had visited from the orphanage. Lizzie grew sad then, thinking of Matt's childhood.

'I'm sorry we didn't take you in.' She muttered. 'When your dad died.'

Matt looked down at her, frowning. 'You weren't even born, Liz. Why are you apologising?'

She shrugged, looking down at the grass again. 'You were alone. I've realised how bad being alone is.'

He frowned again, trying to get her to look at him. 'You're not alone.'

Lizzie didn't say anything, just staring at the ground. When Matt was about to say something, she looked up again, smiling. 'How's Foggy?'

Matt raised an eyebrow. 'You just saw him.'

'Yeah but how is he?'

Matt paused for a moment, looking worried at Lizzie. Perhaps realising he wouldn't get anything else out of her, Matt just shrugged. 'Alright, I guess. His family moved to Illinois after the incident.'

Lizzie shrugged. 'Yeah, people don't like living in places where aliens have invaded.'

Matt shook his head, staring at where the grave was. Lizzie didn't know if could actually see it- or at least sense it- or was just staring in a random direction.

'It's not that.' He scowled. There was an edge to his voice, making him sound almost dangerous. 'Crime rates keep rising and no one talks about it. Half the cops are corrupt, and the city officials. They're all in some guy's pocket and I can't figure out who.'

Lizzie was stunned into silence as Matt ranted. He had always been her cool older cousin, the closest thing she had to a brother. To hear him get so angry about something, anything at all, was so rare when Lizzie was younger, she had convinced herself Matt was an android.

Her cousin looked down, seeing her wide eyes and smiled sheepishly. 'Sorry, that's not what you want to hear is it?'

Lizzie gestured towards the grave. 'I wasn't exactly expecting a happy day.'

Matt sighed, standing up. 'Come on, lets get out of here. Its depressing.'

Lizzie shook her head but stood up anyway. She took Matt's hand, the one not gripping his cane, and gave it a quick squeeze. She looked past him, towards his mother's grave and squeezed again. Her thoughts darkened but she pushed them aside and forced a smile onto her face.

'Where we going?' She said.

Matt shrugged. 'Josie's?'

Lizzie frowned as they walked out. 'That's a bar, isn't it? You can't take me to a bar, there's something wrong there.'

Matt scoffed. 'Like you've never had a drink before.'

'I'm thirteen.'

'Exactly.' Matt smirked. 'Okay, we'll go to the gym.'

Lizzie nodded and they walked along, Lizzie letting Matt lead her along. When they got to the gym, she sat down, watching the few patrons in the boxing ring slowly move away as she shrugged off her jacket and stood again. She walked towards the punching bag, hands curling slowly into fists.

Matt came out to hear her hitting the bag, snarling. He flinched backwards as she knocked the bag off its hook. Whoever had been left in gym was now gone, the guns on her hips and sword across her back scaring them off.

'You finished?' Matt said, dragging two more bags up and hanging them up next to each other.

Lizzie tilted her head sideways. 'Just getting started. Need to stay in shape.'

Matt tilted his head sideways, listening to the vibrations of the air around her. 'Do you need to have weapons on you at all times?'

Lizzie smirked. 'Never know when the world might be ending. Need to be ready.'

Matt raised an eyebrow. 'Does your grandfather carry guns around? We're close enough to your Tower for you to get back.'

Lizzie didn't say anything, just punching the bag Matt had put in front of her. Matt himself started punching his bag, attacking it with ferocity. Lizzie actually stopped to look over at him, leaning on her own bag. She thought she had been angry. She stepped back to watch him, sitting down and resting her sword across her knees. Matt didn't stop, even as se moved to one of the balance beams and started practicing her gymnastics and fencing. The two trained in silence, venting their frustrations as best they could. Finally, Matt stopped, turning and glaring at Lizzie.

'Can't they do anything?'

Lizzie stopped, stood on the beam, sword held loosely. 'What?'

'The Avengers. Your wonderful group of heroes, can't they do anything?! There's crime everywhere and none of you are doing anything!'

Lizzie jumped down from the beam, squaring up to him. 'If you haven't noticed, we have more important things to deal with.'

'Well someone has to stop them!'

'Well, why don't you bloody do it!'

Matt froze and Lizzie continued to glare at him. Breathing heavily, she sheathed her sword, heading back to the bench and grabbing her jacket. Matt just stayed still, listening to her angered movements.

'I'm going back to the Tower.' Lizzie said. 'If you want to stop being an arse, you can follow me.'

'Lizzie.' Matt said as she opened the door. 'You look after yourself, okay?'

Lizzie pursed her lips, still angry. 'You to. Don't get yourself into something you can't handle.'

Matt scoffed. 'I've got to get through laws school first.'

Lizzie smiled, a very weak bitter smile but it was there. 'See you around.'

'Bye.' Matt said as she walked out. He rested his forehead on the punching bag and sighed. He'd go after her later, it wasn't exactly difficult to find Avengers Tower. He'd have to talk to her, make sure she was okay. But, he'd also have to give her time.

Sighing once more, Matt started attacking the bag. He need to keep in shape in case anything happened.

Meanwhile, heading across the city, Lizzie felt tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly and kept walking on. She passed the cemetery but she held her head high and didn't look it. Lizzie refused to let herself cry ever again.


End file.
